Chinese Myths and Folk Tales

by Anonymous

Chinese culture is rich with marvelous folklore, and this exquisitely designed collection draws on that magnificent historical repository.

It features more than 200 fables and tales chosen from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio and other classic compendiums. Here are legends of ancient demons, strange ghosts, magic swords, evil sorcerers, diabolical transformations, flying ogres, fairy foxes, powerful gods, and more.

They include: The Painted Wall, The Flower Nymphs, The Boatmen of Lao-lung, The King of the Nine Mountains, The Disowned Princess, and dozens more.

Genres: Mythology, Classics, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Fairy Tales, China

780 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2020

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Delanie Dooms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Info Post:
Chinese Myths and Folk Tales takes from the books Chinese Fables and Folk Stories, Strange Stories From A Chinese Studio, Some Chinese Ghosts, Chinese Folk-Lore Tales, and The Chinese Fairy Book. They are translated by (respectively) Mary Hayes Davis and Chow-Leung, Herbert A. Giles, Lafcadio Hearn, John Macgowan, and Frederick H. Martens (edited by Richard Wilhelm).
Macgowan's book Chinese Folk-Lore is missing the story "The Fairy and the Pear Seller," and Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio is missing "Theft of a Peach." All the rest seem to be here!* However, I worry that they're abridged in some way, because the "notes on text" ominously states that "the stories published in this volume have been adapted from the following sources." This could easily point out the lack of annotation the stories have (Hearn annotated his stories, but that has been removed; all introductory material for each book is gone also), but I cannot confirm this. In the original Giles translation of the Chinese Studio, the title "Country of the Cave Men" was printed in the "contents" page but also titled "Country of the Cannibals" in-book. This volume fixes the discrepancy.
Herbert Giles was not the best translator. He would censor or outright change references to sex or blood (among other things), and -- as can been by his titling process -- he often wished to proactively interest his readers. "The Chinese Solomon" is an example of this. His book is a classic by age (it was published in 1880 - none of the books in this collection are newer than 1921) but maybe not so much by content. I cannot speak of the others, because they're rather obscure and less-than remembered. Just be wary if you'd like solely Chinese classics, because these ones are not modern translations nor particularly notable for fidelity.

* Giles apparently did not translate the full 500 stories of the Chinese Studio, and thus the full collection is not here; instead, it is the full Giles translation minus one.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was enjoyable and informative, however, being that it drew from late 19th and early 20th century sources, it was too heavily westernized. I would prefer to read a more faithful translation of these stories.

[Karen Hannum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume has contained in it 6 adaptions of texts that have been translated from mainly mandarin.
I think the time is long past for translations such a "A Chinese Jonah" and other Judaeo Christian references be revisited. The translations are from eras past and sound incredibly naively simplistic if not downright racist towards one of the oldest civilizations on the planet. If the translations had been updated, this would have been rated higher. Leave to repros to Everyman's Library editions and hire your own translators for these editions.

[Sunyi Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Briliant collection, full of lore and wonder and horror. I would say this is quite a definitive volume if you're into that sort of thing!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

With one of the most beautiful hardcovers I have seen, the contents of this books are quite dissapointing for the price point.

The contents are simply adaptations (or possibly even copy-pastes) from Chinese "Folk Tales" books written by mostly Westerners in the period between 1880-1920. I assume this is because those works are in Public Domain now and can be copied freely. You can find most of them online for free. However, there is a point I feel is quite problematic for today's standards:

As there are no historical or contextual notes, (and as these were published in a period in which Western countries were in the process of carving up China itself), it is really hard to know how much we can trust the validity of the tales to be actually from China. Without any way to determine these, you can't help but feel that the publisher didn't care if they are spreading old and misrepresentative Orientalist perspectives. In today's climate, I would call that irresponsible.

If the publishers of this book do feel they had good reason to use these works, a solid introduction explaining their choices would have helped a lot. Modern commentaries on the works would have elevated the book to a much higher level.
Instead, you simply have these public domain works - of questionable validity to actual Chinese folk tales - and the book itself is shrinkwrapped in store, so you can't know this until you buy it.

Unfortunately this stinks of an irresponsible cashgrab.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantasic and diverse collection of Chinese myths.

[Ola Nes · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most painfully boring reads of my life, and it was almost 800 pages of it. This is a collection of old Chinese stories and the length of each entry varies wildly, however, one thing they all have in common is just how pointless they are. Most of the stories play out like someone describing an event that happened one day; just the most mundane shit possible. I thought the first 300 pages were going to suck, but apparently the whole book is like this.

[Brendan Shusterman · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some interesting stories in here, but a lot of not-so-interesting stories. Since each story is relatively short and at most 5 pages, it was really hard for me to keep reading with so many natural stopping points ingrained in, but that can’t really be helped. The stories come from a number of translations towards the beginning of the 20th Century, so the language is slightly antiquated for translation. For example, there are a lot of Biblical and Hellenic references which I suspect might be the translator’s way of making it easier for a Western, turn-of-the-century Anglo-sphere audience to grasp. At first off-putting, you get used to it and it adds a sort of personal touch by the translators on the text. Additionally however, the way in which the content of some of these stories are translated makes them easily glossed over to the point that I might read a page and completely forget what I read. That said, there are enough good stories to keep you turning the pages. So many fox spirits, so many fox spirits. The story of Ape Sun Wu Kung and the ‘Some Chinese Ghosts’ section at the end were the best parts for me.

[Yan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just find it odd that the text was translated, compiled, re-contextualised but not "modernised" in any way. There are no footnotes, no discussions, no distinct voice. It's just a compilation.

I feel like this could've been done so much better. There's no issue reading old or more formal writing styles, but the way it is written I could've just googled it online. This book lacks character and voice which I guess is why it doesn't have an authors name.

The way the stories have just been slapped together is lacking. It's so hard to describe it, but you can just feel when folktales and myths are told in a way that lacks soul. Some of the stories give me hope, but it's like good ingredients being used by someone who hasn't learnt the recipe yet.

The book is pretty and the paper quality is lovely, but I wanted a book I could enjoy reading.

[Camilla Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally loved it. It has been Westernized, but I feel like it was perfect for someone like me wanting to learn the basics of Chinese Mythology. I feel as though I learned a lot about Asia's history, culture, and ancient religions and beliefs. I will say that it is helpful to have some background knowledge of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism/Daoism BEFORE reading this. If I didn't previously have some basic knowledge I might have been very confused about some of the stories. But overall it was very entertaining, and I don't think there was a single story I considered boring. One of the most treasured books in my collection.

[Alanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I picked this book up in the store, it was plastic wrapped, and so I could not tell quite what was in it. A quick check online told me there were about two hundred stories, which is about 199 more than a lot of books, so it’s good enough for me. On closer examination, it is a compilation of a few solid Chinese mythology and folktale books including “Some Chinese Ghosts”, which I once had an original copy back from 1906, and many years back I gifted it to a friend (as one does with enjoyable books), it was nice to recognize those stories in the midst of new ones.

[Mark Slauter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some delightful tales, but I have to ask...no stories with pandas? I leave with the impression that this collection barely scratches the surface of folktales involving Chinese culture's broad array of animals.

[Asia Cotter · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Chinese American, I remember hearing a lot about these myths and fables growing up. I never actually read them until recently. Maybe it’s my memory, or maybe it’s the translation but some of the fables and myths have been westernized. Still a good and nostalgic read

[Levyn Leenen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Translations from Giles are not good.

[Kristen (belles_bookshelves) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Be bold, but cautious."

Positively huge collection of myths and folk tales. I do have to say, I enjoy the myths better. The folk tales are a little repetitive after a way, but I love the imagery of a good myth.